Personal and professional development of teachers as a factor in realizing the potential of the underachieving gifted schoolchildren

Abstract

Background. The study of personal characteristics and cognitive needs of the intellectually gifted students with underachievement in school is relevant for the scientific substantiation of the personal and professional development programs and training for the teachers to interact with such pupils.

Objective. Theoretical and methodological analysis of new scientific data on the cognitive and personal development of intellectually gifted schoolchildren underachieving in education as the psychological and pedagogical basis for developing teacher training for interaction with such students; empirical study of motivational and personal characteristics of intellectually gifted schoolchildren with different academic achievement.

Study Participants. The empirical study involved 460 intellectually gifted students in grades 5–10 in Moscow schools, 74–80 people in each cohort.

Methods. Theoretical and analytical review of new scientific publications on the peculiarities of the cognitive and personal development of intellectually gifted schoolchildren underachieving in education as well as their psychological and pedagogical support by teachers. The empirical study implemented the diagnostics complex including tests of cognitive abilities, questionnaires of achievement motivation, academic and general self-esteem (adapted by the author: Scheblanova, 2006), parametric statistical methods for the data processing.

Results. The analysis of the school teachers’ ideas about self-efficacy in teaching gifted students demonstrated their insufficient professional readiness to work with such pupils. Recent scientific publications review highlighted the important aspects of the modern understanding on differentiated approach to the identification and education of intellectually gifted children taking into consideration the new data on the variability of giftedness manifestations and trajectories of its development in the programs for the personal and professional development of teachers.

Conclusions. The study provides theoretically and empirically substantiated basis for developing teacher professional and personal training for effective interaction with intellectually gifted students, and namely, — understanding the peculiarities of not only cognitive, but also motivational and personal development of students with high abilities and varying academic achievement as well as the need of psychological and pedagogical support for intellectually gifted underachievers.

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